Hale benefit Thursday at the fairgrounds

For more than 22 years Hastings resident Charles Hale has looked out for the welfare of his neighbors as a dedicated member of the volunteer firefighters.

Now it's time for the community to return the favor.

Thursday, friends of Hale will host a benefit barbecue chicken dinner from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds to aid Hale and his family, as Hale wages a battle against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Disease (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Hale was diagnosed seven months ago.

"He was one of those boys who started hanging out with his dad (E.E. Hale) at the fire station. He was probably one of the most active (volunteers) we have had in the county," suggests Kevin Winters, a former member of the Hastings volunteers and fire chief there for five years.

Winters is now a county fire fighter.

Winters and other friends of Hale, including Bubba Klipstine, Mike Pierce, Timmy Schmidt and Jerry Creedon are in on the plans for the barbecue.

Charles's uncle, Billy Hale, who owns Hale's Grocery in Hastings, is providing the chicken for the fund-raising event.

Donation for the barbecued chicken dinner with baked beans and coleslaw is $6. Sonny's Barbecue is donating the beans and coleslaw.

A dessert table will also be available, and you can dine in - if you bring your own chairs; or take out.

And, says Winters, for business groups of six or more, deliveries will be made in St. Augustine. Just call 669-7587 or 669-3761 by 4 p.m., Thursday.

Tickets for the dinner are available at the Hastings Fire Station and Hale's Food Store, or by calling the numbers listed.

Tickets will also be available at the fairgrounds.

Winters doesn't know how many dinners will be served, but they're hoping for a great turnout. "We had 1,500 tickets printed," he says, adding that this is the first of a number of projects Hale's friends have planned.

The Hale family has long supported the Hastings community, says Winters. Charles's father was a volunteer fire fighter for some 30 years.

And "all the good he's done for the community in his more than 20 years," Winters says of Charles. During that service, he responded to 80 to 90 percent of the fire calls.

Hale, who is 42, and his wife, Cathy, have three children, Misty, Charles Jr. and Elizabeth.